Elaia to Sell Seven Tourist Apartment Complexes in Spain

25 June 2019

Looking to rotate its asset holdings, the socimi Elaia announced that it is looking to sell a portfolio of seven tourist apartment complexes in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and the Costa del Sol. The French company Pierre & Vacances is currently leasing all seven.

The portfolio consists of a 150-flat complex in Sant Lluís, Menorca, two assets in Mallorca, two on the Costa del Sol, one in L’Estartit, Girona, and one in Barcelona.

The firm is looking to attract small and medium investors that would be interested returns of between 4% and 5% per year.

Original Story: EjePrime

Pierre & Vacances to Increase Revenues in Spain by 50% in 3 Years

28 November 2018 – Expansión

Pierre & Vacances, the vacation apartment, hotel and resort chain, wants to strengthen its presence in Spain with a growth plan over three years, which will allow it to achieve 80 establishments in Spain and Portugal and increase is turnover in the region by more than 50% to around €100 million by the end of 2021, compared to its forecast revenues of €65 million for 2018 and €85 million for 2019.

The French company, which has added six new establishments to its portfolio this year, will add another three properties next year, taking the total to 59 complexes and 5,000 apartments by the end of 2019.

Its plans for 2021 include having 80 tourist complexes in Spain and Portugal, containing between 6,000 and 6,500 units, according to Ghislain d’Auvigny, Director General of Pierre & Vacances in Spain, talking to Expansión.

One of the most recent openings includes Madrid, where the company has just incorporated apartments in the Eurobuilding 2, a building with 123 apartments at number 69 Calle Orense. This represents Pierre & Vacances’s debut in the Spanish capital and it joins other urban complexes that the company already has in Sevilla and Barcelona.

Pierre & Vacances, which arrived in Spain in 2005, employs around 1,200 workers in the country during the high season. “We will continue to take advantage of opportunities and to reach agreements with owners for the management, rental and marketing of complexes”, said D’Auvigny.

In parallel, the company is going to take advantage of purchase opportunities if it finds the appropriate assets, although it will subsequently sell them to third parties, be they funds or individuals, to maintain its policy of not owning any assets itself.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Elaia Buys a Hotel Complex in Menorca for €17.5 Million

26 March 2018

Elaia, a socimi 66%-owned by Batipart, mainly specialises in tourist accommodations, a sector that accounts for 86% of its portfolio of assets.

Elaia Investment Spain is fattening its asset portfolio through new acquisitions. The socimi reported today that it had bought a hotel complex in Menorca for 17.5 million euros. The socimi advised the Market Alternative Stock Market (MAB) that asset will be operated by Pierre & Vacances.

The complex, called Edén Binibeca, has an area of 9,005 square meters, is located on San Luis’ (Menorca) waterfront. The property has 150 apartments, three swimming pools and a restaurant, among other areas.

It is Elaia’s first asset in Menorca and its fifth in the Balearic Islands, according to the same source, which has pointed out that the self-financed operation includes the signing of a long-term lease with Pierre & Vacances, which already runs eight of the socimi’s assets.

Elaia, a socimi 66%-owned by Batipart, mainly specialises in tourist accommodations, a sector that accounts for 86% of its portfolio of assets, which is currently made up of two residential buildings in Madrid, six tourist apartment complexes and six hotels.

Original Story: EjePrime

Translation: Richard Turner

The Ruggieri Family Buys Eurosic’s Spanish Socimi

18 October 2017 – El Confidencial

One of the wealthiest families in France has set its sights on Spain’s tourism market. The Ruggieri family, owner of the Batipart Group, reached an agreement in August with the also French firm Eurosic to purchase the Socimi that that firm had created in Spain, and has now renamed the entity Elaia Investment Spain.

After taking over 66% of the vehicle, Batipart has put all of the wheels in motion to enable the company to make its debut on the stock market before the end of the year, just like its previous owner had planned.

In this new business venture, Ruggieri is accompanied by Euler Hermès, owner of 13.81% of the Socimi; Allianz Invest Pierra, owner of another 9.21%; and around twenty individual investors who own the remainder of the share capital.

Elaia owns twelve real estate assets in Spain, primarily hotels and tourist apartments, although it also owns two residential properties in Madrid, on the centric streets Bailén and Atocha.

The Socimi focuses on three-and four-star category hotels and on taking advantage of the boom in tourist apartments. It owns two assets of each type in Mallorca and a hotel and two apartment blocks in Málaga, whilst, in Cataluña, it owns a hotel in Roses (Gerona), one tourist rental building in Barcelona and another in Estartir (Gerona).

In total, the Socimi has invested €145 million so far acquiring its portfolio, although its objective is to reach €280 million. To that end, it is currently holding talks with various investors, whose contributions will range between €10 million and €30 million.

When it debuts on the MAB, Elaia expects to have a market capitalisation of €120 million, a figure that will make it one of the largest Socimis on the market. The company will be managed by Elaia Management Spain, a subsidiary of Batipart, and the plan is to undertake some of its expansion together with Pierre & Vacances, its main partner in Spain.

The Socimi’s roadmap foresees it continuing with its intense asset acquisition policy for the next year or so, before spending the following two years repositioning those assets. The divestment phase is expected to be activated from 2021 onwards and that strategy is expected to be carried out on an asset by asset basis, culminating in 2024, with a forecast rate of return (IRR) of 15%.

Eurosic-Gecina’s heritage

The Batipart Group was founded in 1988 by Charles Ruggieri, who was born in Italy but who settled in France many years ago, where he is one of the top 100 wealthiest people in the country, with a net worth of around €900 million. A historical shareholder of Eurosic, in June, he agreed to sell his 24% in the real estate company to Gecina, in exchange for taking ownership of all of the leisure, health and hotel assets in the portfolio, including Elaia, worth €463 million in total.

That agreement was signed on 29 August, which is when Batipart took control of the Spanish Socimi. Moreover, the group owned by the Ruggieri family also has a presence in the nursing home sector, through the Korian Group, and it owns six hotels in Africa.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Pierre & Vacances Plans To Double Turnover In Spain By 2020

27 April 2016 – Expansión

The holiday apartment manager and developer, Pierre & Vacances, which has been operating in the Spanish market for 10 years now, has recorded average annual growth of 44% since it launched in Spain in 2005, with a portfolio of 215 apartments. Moreover, it intends to maintain that growth rate over the next few years, and whereby double its presence by 2020.

Specifically, the firm expects to expand its operations from more than 4,000 holiday apartments across 45 complexes in 2016, to 8,000 apartments by 2020, at the same time as doubling its turnover from €50 million to €100 million. In 2016, the group will incorporate five new complexes and 600 apartments. Moreover, it has renovated the Hotel El Puerto in Fuengirola.

Over the last ten years, Pierre & Vacances has invested €70 million in Spain, however, it does not currently own any assets, according to the Chairman of the Spanish subsidiary, José María Pont. One of the group’s business lines involves searching for institutional and private investors willing to purchase real estate assets with lease contracts spanning 10-15 years and returns of between 3.5% and 5% per annum. In addition, the firm has reached agreements with investment funds, which have invested €65 million in assets managed by the firm.

Looking ahead to the future, given the lack of stock in certain areas such as the Costa Brava, Balearic Islands and the Costa del Sol, the group is considering launching projects “from scratch”, including constructing and operating the assets itself. “In certain areas, the circumstances in the market lend themselves to taking on more risk”, says Pont. The Director says that Spain is one of the group’s strategic axes, along with China, where Pierre & Vacances has reached an agreement with HNA to develop five large projects over the next three years.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Pierre & Vacances Agrees Alliance With Morgan Stanley

23 January 2015 – Expansión

The French leisure company Pierre & Vacances has signed an agreement with a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate to acquire 3,000 new holiday rental units in Spain over the next two years. The units will be managed by the travel group, as part of its growth strategy. The fund expects to acquire at least 3,000 real estate assets in Spain in “strategic and highly selective” locations. The assets will be managed by Pierre & Vacances, a specialist in holiday apartment rentals, as it seeks to meet the increased demand from European customers.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Holidaymakers to Lease Apartments From the “Bad Bank”

4/07/2014 – Cinco Dias

The Management Company for Assets Arising from the Banking Sector Reorganization, known as Sareb, has come to an agreement with holiday real estate firm Pierre & Vacances on awarding the leasing of four residential complexes located in Alicante, Tarragona and Majorca.

In detail, the contract with Pierre & Vacances assumes management of apartments found in Benidorm Poniente in Alicante, Marina Torredembarra (Tarragona) and of two complexes in Majorca, Portomar and Vistalegre. Allegedly, more establishments will join the list this year.

According to the “bad bank”, Pierre & Vacances is going to administer the assets and pay a return to Sareb. As the tourist operator says, annual yield from holiday lease may bring between 3.5% to 5%. In turn, Sareb pursues at maximising the value of its REO.

The agreement has been signed for 10 years and gives the green light to the assets sales.

This year, the “bad bank” is going to invest €2.5 million in holiday property improvement and then benefit from the increase of foreign tourism in Spain and the rebound in residential investment by international buyers in specific coastal areas.

At the moment, Pierre & Vacances manages 240 Sareb´s apartments, but the number may be doubled in medium-term when other properties added. In 2013, Sareb earned €68 million on rentals and obviously would like to multiply the gains in the future.

Sareb´s CEO Jaime Echegoyen has enumerated advantages of the agreement which will allow the “bad bank” earn some turnovers and enhance the foreign demand thanks to the brand recognition and the international sales network of Pierre & Vacances.

 

Original article: Cinco Días (by L. S. & M. M. M.)

Translation: AURA REE

Pierre & Vacances keeps the aparthotel of the “bad bank”.

The French hotel group Pierre & Vacances will assume the management and commercial operation of the aparthotel Vida & Golf in Benidorm, built by Bankia Habitat in 2009 and in the hands of the bad bank since January this year.

The interest of the French multinational, European leader in the management and development of tourist apartments and resorts, for this apartment complex in Benidorm started as soon as the property was transferred to Sareb. Initially, the conversations between the bank and the French firm included two possibilities: the acquisition or the rental of the aparthotel Vida & Golf. Finally, and as confirmed by official sources of the company, Pierre & Vacances has decided to handle the management and commercial operation of the complex. “The acquisition of the property could be studied later”, they have pointed out.

The agreement for the incorporation of Vida & Golf to the portfolio of Pierre & Vacances is imminent, and most probably before the end of September. “We are on the verge of closing the operation”, these sources explain.

Pierre & Vacances has chosen this aparthotel because it is a complex in line with the ones managed by the group in the region of Marina Baixa, such as the hotel Altea Hills or the apartment tower Maeva, in Benidorm.

The problems with the rating of the land and the low occupation were the two reasons that forced Bankia Habitat to decide the closure of the complex a few months after being transferred to Sareb. This institution acquired the hotel as a consequence of the agreements between the Government and the European Union for the restructuring of the real estate financial assets of the nationalized financial institutions.

The change in the rating of the land was precisely one of the conditions put by the French group to enter the bid of the complex. The land where the project stands is rated as non-residential and therefore is incompatible with the operation of touristic apartments.

The town hall of Benidorm has received a request from Pierre & Vacances in this sense, and has already approved the change of rating of the land to tertiary-hotel.

The aparthotel, as well as a holiday resort, was oriented to customers older than 55 with health problems and offered different therapy treatments.

Vida & Golf opened its doors in March 2010. The complex has 78 apartments of 60 and 90 square meters and complements its offer with sanitary services. Vida & Golf also offers its customers the possibility of playing golf.